The other night I was sitting around feeling rather listless and without motivation. So, on went the television despite knowing there was nothing of interest identified. Inevitably, channel flicking then commenced. All of a sudden, I came across a channel showing a programme entitled, "U-Boat Wargamers".
"Hello, what's going on here," I thought.
What I had stumbled across was an episode of a series about how the Royal Navy combatted the German submarine threat in the Atlantic during World War Two. It looks at how an officer was tasked with working out the Kriegsmarine's tactics and produce a counter to it. The officer was Captain Gilbert Williams who led the Western Approaches Tactical Unit (WATU). His means for finding the solution involved wargaming.
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| Captain Gilbert Williams |
To run his games and problem solve the situations, Williams used a number of officers and ratings from the Women's Royal Naval Service (Wrens).
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| Mary Poole, one of the many Wrens involved. |
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| Game materials being organised. |
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| Wrens calculating the outcome of the players' decisions. The wargames were played on a large gridded piece of linoleum on the floor. |
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| A wargame at play. The convoy escort players had to view the layout through slots in hung sheets. which greatly limited their vision. The U-Boat players did not have to stand behind the screens. |
More information about WATU can be found here.
There are six episodes in the television series. I searched and saw that you can watch it on Amazon or Sky History. I stumbled across it on a channel called "Blaze". Which is currently showing it on Sundays at 9pm.
I've certainly learned something new... everyday's a school day!
I had seen a video on this before, I think on YouTube, and found it fascinating. They do say you should never try to turn your hobby into a job, and I wonder if Captain Williams ever drove into work thinking "Just great, another day of wargaming ahead of me".
ReplyDeleteWow, that's a really good find, Richard! I think most will be aware of the wargame the Japanese played to plan for Midway (I think)....the game saw the Japanes fleet being hit by US aircraft while the Japanese planes were on deck refueling...the umpire over ruled it and the Japanese went on to win the game....and guess what happened in the actual battle!
ReplyDeleteBut few would be aware of WATU, I would imagine and what sounds like a very important role they had in winning the Battle of the Atlantic
That’s a good find!
ReplyDelete